Brown University to drop fee for low-income applicants

Brown University will automatically waive the application fee for low-income students.

A group of students from Ivy League schools asked the schools to automatically waive the fee for applicants who are low-income or the first in their families to attend college.

A letter to the schools was penned by Brown senior Viet Nguyen in February.

The Rhode Island university announced Friday it’s waiving the fee for students eligible for free lunch, enrolled in a government program that aids low-income families or belonging to a college-access organization. The waiver applies to applicants for fall 2018.

Brown honored requests for fee waivers in the past. The change means low-income students won’t have to ask.

Brown says application costs shouldn’t be a barrier and it wants to encourage more talented students to apply.